Customer offers: Reward loyalty

MANY businesses, most notably airlines and hotels, give their most regular and repeat customers a discount. Even coffee shops often offer loyalty cards. It’s a way of saying thank you and showing appreciation for ongoing support. It also makes business sense to keep the customer satisfied.

Yet some business sectors not only appear immune from making such gestures but, in fact, treat their most loyal customers very badly. Research carried out by Citizens Advice in the UK has proven what many consumers both in Britain and Ireland have always suspected: Insurance, broadband, and phone providers and banks often give their most loyal customers a worse deal than newcomers. New customers are offered all sorts of discounts and other enticements while existing ones are treated with disdain.